Tourist routes in Poznań: Fortress and memorials
Bunker in Fort 6th, Poznań / Łukasz Cynalewski / Agencja Gazeta
Poznań Fortress
The idea of fortifying eastern areas of Prussia appeared in 1815 as this land had become part of Prussia at the end of the 18th century. Poznan was located on the shortest way to Berlin, 60km away from the border. In 1816 Karl von Grolman, the Chief of the General Staff at that time, later the commander of many years' standing of the Prussian army corpus stationed in Poznan, believed: "Poznan must become a fortress. It will be a guarantee that Prussia shall never renounce such necessary territories and shall crush with one blow eternal Polish plotting and intriguing". In 1817 Grolman prepared the first draft of planned fortification of Poznan, paying special attention to the need of fortifying the Cathedral on the isle of Ostrów Tumski and the Reformed Franciscan Convent on the hill, both on the right bank of Warta river, apart from the left bank fortification. Nevertheless, the construction of the fortress was eventually started in 1829. The first stage was ended in 1839 and the fortifications surrounded then the city from the north, the north-east and the east. The second stage lasted between 1840 and 1869 and in the end a polygonal core was built with a radius of 1km, spreading throughout the whole left-bank of the city from the south and the west. The next stage was a construction of a citadel in Ostrów Tumski. In 1869 the construction of the first class polygonal fortress was finished. Considering the conditions of the époque, it was huge. The diameter of a circle circumscribed on the fortification exceeded 3km and inside there was also Fort Winiary.
At the end of the 19 century the city started to sense the limitation in construction around the fortress, this is why it began to be gradually liquidated. The demolition lasted between 1909 and 1912. However, the northern part (including Fort Winiary on the left bank) and the eastern part where three building areas of fortification were kept, remained untouched. The ring of new forts around the city still performed their function. The liquidation of the forts took place in the 1920s and 1930s . During World War II the rest of the fortification was destroyed.
Some remains of Poznan Fortress can be seen in different areas of the city:
Fort Winiary remains (today: Citadel Park) with a clear layout still preserved, quite long fragments of counterscarp walls and one section of casemated scarp, ruins of a few casemates, the western stockade and remains of the eastern stockade. At that time, it was the longest artillery fort in Europe. It is located on Winiary Hill (Wzgórze Winiarskie), on the continuation of Independence Avenue (Aleje Niepodległości). A monumental staircase leads to the top of the hill where the Heroes Memorial stands.
Part of the redoubt of Fort Roon, situated on the area of Garbary heat and power plant, bordering with Big Lock.
The Western wall of the Warta river scarp at Big Lock, the well preserved western abutment of Big Cathedral Lock and a section of wall towards the Śródka bridge.
Axiel blockhouse of gallery (chemin couvert) of the 4th Core Bastion.
Filled in ruins of the lowest level of Fort Prittwizt Gaffron Redoubt.
Fragments of Railway Caponier under Kaponiera Bridge (beneath the underpass of Kaponiera Roundabout built in 1970s)
A small blockhouse at the fork of the railroads to Torun and Stargard.
On a school building at Słowackiego Street there is a figure of the Archangel Michael, once decorating Dębińska Gate.
Something well-worth seeing: a fragment of an arsenal at Garbary.
In the barracks and storehouse complex at Solna Street: a section of several metres of Storehouse Cavalier wall, one storage building with half-timbered walls, once housing the Stock Office.
Outbuilding of 5th Corps General Headquarters (at former Cannon Square)
3-level counterscarp blockhouse, situated in Marcinkowski Park, remains of a bastion demolished in 1903, was dug out, dried and partly open to visits in 1998. The postern, being its lowest level, serves today as a reservoir of groundwater.
Four buildings of a barracks complex at Ratajczaka and Powstańców Wielkopolski Streets are preserved, among them a coach house and a storehouse. Besides, most barracks built in 1870s and later have been preserved too. There are also marks of an infantry shooting range on Warszawska Street.